Jerry Seppala, a political fundraiser who's planning to produce up to a dozen films in Minnesota through his company, Wayzata-based Griffin Productions, said raising cash to make a film is pretty straightforward.

Pitching a film "is no different than an other private equity deal … it's a product like any other. There are risks involved like any other [business proposition]," Seppala said when I called him to discuss the world of film finance Tuesday morning.

Seppala is aiming to secure 70 percent or 80 percent of the funding locally. "Ultimately, we'd love to have 100 percent," he said, but declined to name the individual and institutional investors who are backing the film.

"Thanksgiving at Denny's" could bring $15 million to $24 million in economic benefits to the Minnesota economy based on estimates that show every dollar spent making a film generates six dollars in economic activity, Seppala said.

"This is about job creation in Minnesota," he said.

Investors, obviously, are more worried about their own returns, which will depend on how the film does at the box office. Financing more films will be easier if the first one is a success.

"For most of them it's a business proposition at the end of the day," said Hubert "Buck" Humphrey IV, a Griffin principle (along with Steve Brown) who's helping Seppala pitch the films.